Today’s Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne is an important race for the 2006 Belgian champion Niko ‘Rambo’ Eeckhout. After working on his racing condition in the Tours of Qatar and Oman, he will lead the An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly team in the prestigious event, and hopes for a strong showing.
Eeckhout may be 40 years of age, but he remains one of the strongest riders on the Irish-sponsored, Belgian-registered squad. He won a stage in the Etiole de Besseges in 2010, also landing three other top-four placings, then went on to net seventh in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, second in the Ronde van het Groene Hart and eighth on a stage of the Three Days of De Panne.
The season could have been even better, except he was involved in a bad crash in April’s Grand Prix Pino Cerami, breaking vertebrae with the impact. Eeckhout came back to competition in the Tour of Belgium and then took stage placings of first and third in the Ronde de l’Oise, but his return was took quick and this led to other issues. He missed much of the rest of the season due to the physical therapy needed to get back on track.
Now feeling strong again, the Flandrian spoke to VeloNation at the recent team launch in Tielt, Belgium. As he explains, he’s starting what could be his final year of racing and he wants to take some big wins.
Stay tuned for more VeloNation video interviews, coming soon.
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An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly lineup for today's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne:
1. Niko Eeckhout
2. Pieter Ghyllebert
3. Sam Bennett
4. Mark Cassidy
5. Mark McNally
6. Andy Fenn
7. Gediminas Bagdonas
8. Kevin Claeys